med school with disability

[heberJgrant]

i was just wondering if any here went through med school while having a disability and what if any accomodations were made for them. Specifically for me are chronic illness and fatigue.

thank you

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[USArmyDoc]

i was just wondering if any here went through med school while having a disability and what if any accomodations were made for them. Specifically for me are chronic illness and fatigue.

thank you

I have a disability that is chronic and is a source of constant fatigue. PM if you want more information.

Its tougher, but definitely doable.

 

[veggie7]

i also did med school w/ a chronic illness (i'm graduating in 2 weeks ) - i agree w/ the above post, it's tough but most people are really supportive. PM me if you want more information.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

i also did med school w/ a chronic illness (i'm graduating in 2 weeks ) - i agree w/ the above post, it's tough but most people are really supportive. PM me if you want more information.

Curious to know what field you are going into?

To the OP:

1. If this fatigue is going to mean that you can't take call or stand in the OR for long cases be prepared to deal with resentment from your colleagues. Not trying to be discouraging, just stating a fact. The culture of medicine (and especially the culture of surgery) is surprisingly intolerant of medical conditions among its own.

2. Are you sure that there are fields of medicine in which you can thrive? Many, many of the "popular" fields that tend to attract lots of medical students would be hard for people with chronic fatigue. Is your illness going to limit your career options before you even start? If so are you happy with those limits? The only reason I ask is that so many medical students come in sure that they want to do X and end up loving Y...

 

[Flopotomist]

I can not imagine even trying to go to medical school with a fatigue problem. How impairing are we talking? (Is that even a word?)

 

[Tired]

1. If this fatigue is going to mean that you can't take call or stand in the OR for long cases be prepared to deal with resentment from your colleagues. Not trying to be discouraging, just stating a fact. The culture of medicine (and especially the culture of surgery) is surprisingly intolerant of medical conditions among its own.

From what I've seen, "visible" disabilities are dealt with much more professionally and with understanding than "invisible" disabilities. One would imagine that "Chronic Fatigue" will not be met with much love from your peers or supervisors.

 

[veggie7]

Curious to know what field you are going into?

To the OP:

1. If this fatigue is going to mean that you can't take call or stand in the OR for long cases be prepared to deal with resentment from your colleagues. Not trying to be discouraging, just stating a fact. The culture of medicine (and especially the culture of surgery) is surprisingly intolerant of medical conditions among its own.

I'm going into pediatrics.

Not a lot of my classmates know i have a chronic illness, and I never mentioned it to faculty if I didn't have to. Yea, I have fatigue (I have a rheumatologic disorder) and I deal with it and am really good at planning my time so that I got enough sleep (even on surgery, etc). I'm graduating AOA and matched at my first choice residency program - so it is definitely doable, you just have to make some sacrifices here and there about what you do outside of med school.

To the OP: What I did to prepare for getting sick - I told the medical affairs dean (just in case); sometimes I had to tell faculty - for example, when i got exposed to meningococcemia and i'm significantly immunosuppressed; I had a great, supportive rheumatologist who'd work me in when I needed to be seen and take my word for it when I was going into a flare.

Not sure if i'm addressing anybody's questions - I think my point is - I'd do it again even though it was tough. and I think my experiences will make me a more understanding doctor. And when I got really sick, I occasionally missed lecture/rotations. But I toughed it out a lot, so i only took time off when I really needed to.

 

[veggie7]

oh, and I know 3 type I diabetics in med school, 1 friend with UC, and 1 with crohn's. there are more people out there than you think w/ chronic illnesses in med school.

 

[SuziQ]

...

 

[KnowBody]

I have a physical disability, and have been gathering a lot of information about accommodations. Feel free to PM me.

 

[KnowBody]

Here's a bit of the scoop about accommodations:

A school is required to provide accommodations to students with disabilities as long as those accommodations don't cause a fundamental alteration to the curriculum or create an undue burden for the school. The student is required to know his/her rights and to engage the school in an interactive process to determine the accommodations that are most suitable. The student's suggestions are to be given the greatest weight, as long as they are reasonable.

The most common accommodation asked for and granted is extra time to complete the curriculum. I was told by the Department of Education that it's not uncommon for students with disabilities to take double the amount of time (8 years) to complete medical school. Another common accommodation is adaptive equipment.


Post secondary schools are not required to seek out students and offer them accommodations. It's the student's responsibility to learn what their rights are by law, and to ask for them. Once a student makes his/her needs known, it's the school's responsibility to inform the student about options.

Is your school being cooperative? I was told that many medical schools are not, and that students with disabilities often have to fight for their rights.

There are a bunch of laws that govern disability accommodations in post secondary education, including the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and individual state laws. I can link some of those if anyone's interested.

 

[Flopotomist]

The most common accommodation asked for and granted is extra time to complete the curriculum. I was told by the Department of Education that it's not uncommon for students with disabilities to take double the amount of time (8 years) to complete medical school.

If it takes eight years to finish medical school - how on Earth do these people finish residency?

 

[KnowBody]

If it takes eight years to finish medical school - how on Earth do these people finish residency?

These people . . not only get clobbered with an illness or an injury they didn't ask for or deserve, such as type 1 diabetes or paraplegia, but they also incur additional school debt and delay earning an income because they often need longer to do things than their temporarily able bodied counterparts. Yet they persevere despite pain and fatigue and a myriad of other problems, including misunderstanding from others who don't have a clue what it's like to be in their shoes.

And how on earth do they ever finish and why bother? Because becoming ill or disabled doesn't kill that inner yearning that drives us to fullfill our dreams.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.

 

[cfdavid]

I'd think that medicine is diverse enough for you to find something that would accomodate your needs in the future. Sure, there may be times in training where it could get tough, depening on your condition. But, if you want it bad enough I'm sure you can handle it.

 

[amoebatt]

Please send me a private message to discuss.

i was just wondering if any here went through med school while having a disability and what if any accomodations were made for them. Specifically for me are chronic illness and fatigue.

thank you